The women's basketball team has an exhibition against Christopher Newport University this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the Convo. Free admission and open parking so this is a great way to start the team begin another fabulous season.

Season tickets arrived yesterday - I am ready for basketball to begin!

My tickets have also arrived and looking forward to the season. Do not know if we will be able to make the exhibition game as the wife and I will be coming back from the URI football game. Will try to con her into making a detour but not hopeful. Will be there the following Friday and Sunday sandwiched between the UR game!!

Brian

Any idea if this game will be available to watch on Madizone?

We will be there with bells on! We're out of town on business for the opening weekend so won't make that, but wouldn't miss this for the world.

(11-02-2017 11:18 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Any idea if this game will be available to watch on Madizone?

It's not listed on the Madizone schedule so my guess is no, especially since it is an exhibition game. If anyone knows anything different, please correct me.

I do not believe last years exhibition game was on Madizone but am not 100% sure. If it was not I would not think this years would be.

Still hoping to con the wife into making a detour through the Burg on Sunday before heading home!!

Brian

Got to watch Christopher Newport win at Bridgewater in the opener last season. CNU went to the D III Final Four. Will be interesting to see how that translates over to Division I against a good JMU team.

CNU got beat by ODU in exhibition, but ODU, who are rebuilding under new coach Nikki McCray-Penson, really struggled. (On that note, I was appalled by the number of ODU players and commitments who bailed, apparently without even talking to Nikki or giving her a chance, when she was hired.)

Any feedback on the game? Box scores anywhere?

Dukes won by 30, Koshuta led us with 20 pts.

If you’re on Twitter go read the DNR reporter Josh Walfish’s posts. He provided some nice detail on who did what. Sounds like the Dukes will have some nice weapons this year, inside and out.

A good look at what we have this year. If everyone stays healthy, it's a LOT! I was particularly impressed with my first look at Kelly Koshuta. What she lacks in speed she makes up for in power. That was a MONSTER block in the 3rd Q! The Newport bunch and even some of ours ducked, like "Incoming!" Also liked the looks of both freshmen. Tori Harris is quick and shows some real flash at her position and weaves in and out really nicely. Breyenne Bellerand is feisty and almost as fast. Coach O and company did a great job getting those two. Devon Merrit and Kayla seem to have recovered well from Their respective injuries. And Logan, what can I say? She was EVERYWHERE! She gets my vote for most improved. It should be a fun year once they iron out the jitters.

PS. Who else thought Christopher Newport's coach was particularly obnoxious? The Man said he reminded him of a Little League coach of the worst kind.

(11-05-2017 06:53 PM)orange-to-purple Wrote:  A good look at what we have this year. If everyone stays healthy, it's a LOT! I was particularly impressed with my first look at Kelly Koshuta. What she lacks in speed she makes up for in power. That was a MONSTER block in the 3rd Q! The Newport bunch and even some of ours ducked, like "Incoming!" Also liked the looks of both freshmen. Tori Harris is quick and shows some real flash at her position and weaves in and out really nicely. Breyenne Bellerand is feisty and almost as fast. Coach O and company did a great job getting those two. Devon Merrit and Kayla seem to have recovered well from Their respective injuries. And Logan, what can I say? She was EVERYWHERE! She gets my vote for most improved. It should be a fun year once they iron out the jitters.

PS. Who else thought Christopher Newport's coach was particularly obnoxious? The Man said he reminded him of a Little League coach of the worst kind.

You mean the former George Mason..........................High School coach?

Wife and I walked into the Convo right at tip off after making the drive from her Moms place in Rockland County NY after the URI game yesterday. I am wiped to say the least.

Was good to see the ladies in action. Going to be a busy few weeks between football and the lady Dukes.


Couple of observations. As I noted above I think it will take some time for the team to jell and figure out who is doing what and when. Game was a bit sloppy and unfocued from time to time as one would expect in a first real game action situation. Once they do figure things out watch out. Was great to see Kayla in action, she looked great and had multiple blocks and some nice shots for scores. Thought Smalls looked a lot more confident up and down the court, Lexie also. Logan was all over the place to day with steals, deflecting passes etc. Wife thought Hailee looked more muscular and fit. Devon contributed some key boards and points and looked like she felt more comfortable. Both the freshman got some good playing time and looked good. Tori while built like a rail was quick and tough inside. Tasia was Tasia, doing the inside dirty work and doing what she does best. Aneah also had some good minutes and played hard as we have become accustomed to.

Biggest surprise me thinks was Kelly K. She dropped in 20 and showed some nice moves around the basket both offensively and rebounding and blocking shots and generally clogging things up. She seems a bit slow sometimes but she was always in the thick of things. She came off the bench and helped get the Dukes rolling.

Coach O played a number of different lineups and again played everyone. Looks like the starting 5 will be Kayla, Tasia, Hailee, Smalls and Lexi. But as we saw last year I would think Coach O will mix things up lineup wise based on what each game needs and brings. He played both freshman together along with some of the reserves from last year often today and they seemed to mesh well.

Looking forward to a great year from the Lady Dukes. Particularly in getting our nets back from Elon!!

Brian

Cooper-Williams and Kamiah are probably the best combo in the CAA, very impressed with both of them.

how about the obvious one that everyone's dying to know... how was the pep band?

(11-06-2017 10:58 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  how about the obvious one that everyone's dying to know... how was the pep band?

No drop off, that I could see or hear.

Pep band was delightfully obnoxious (in a good way)! The Man was puzzled for a moment by the sign that said "We want our nets back" until I reminded him about Elon and suggested that the Elon game will be extremely loud.

Yesterday was a lot of fun and a decent crowd for an exhibition game. I was very impressed with how Kelly played. She might not be the fastest person on the court, but she is an imposing presence inside and had some monster blocks (as did Kayla). The freshmen brought a real spark of energy to the game. Everyone played....I think everyone scored and there was a chance to dust off the cobwebs. Now......IMHO I think they need to work on 1) free throws, 2) breaking the half-court press, 3) free throws and 4) 3-point shots - when to take them and how to be more accurate.

Pep Band did not seem to be any different from last year - pleasant surprise. Loved the sign "We Want Our Nets Back" that they flashed at the beginning. I think this is going to be a mantra for the team all year.

Now if we could just replace the guy who does the time-out "games". Sorry if he is a poster here or related to a poster here, but I think he is so obnoxious and irritating. Many thanks to whoever turned the volume on his microphone down yesterday. I don't like to listen to people scream instead of announce. And yes I am an old fogey :-).

I had a chance to meet Tori Harris' dad yesterday. What a nice man! He said they also have two sons playing pro basketball so I think Tori's skills come to her naturally!

This weekend will be very telling for the ladies. Should be a great weekend for sports in JMU Land!!

LovethoseDukes

Also noticed that less than stellar free throw shooting. Mentioned to SWMBO that several of the Lady Dukes probably bought some extended free throw shooting practice this week.

Looking forward to a Dukes sports weekend!!

Go Dukes!!

ROOTIN!!

Brian